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| Hiking | 12.40 Miles |
1,600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 12.40 Miles | 6 Hrs 45 Mns | | 1.84 mph |
| 1,600 ft AEG | | 12 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | Made the long drive out to the Bluff Mountain Trailhead with Greg and his dog, Luca. Many of the pages I came across for the hike described the road in as one of the worst roads in Washington. Maybe I am just spoiled in the FJ, but the road really wasn't that bad. High clearance is probably necessary for peace of mind, but there is really nothing technical or challenging, at least when the road is dry. Unfortunately my GPS batteries were dead and I didn't get a good track for the hike, guess I will have to head back again...
The drive in is rather scenic and crosses over a couple of small creeks on its way. We saw plenty of deer, including a fawn. And shortly before we arrived at the trailhead, some type of animal ran across the road about 30 yards ahead of us. It was super quick and completely black- for the fraction of a second that we both saw the animal we thought it looked vaguely feline, but we have no idea what it could have been. I could only speculate it was a bear cub, but the way it was running just looked too graceful for a bear...
We couldn't have picked a better day for the hike. The temp at the trailhead was in the 70s, beautiful blue skies with just enough clouds to make things interesting. We had great view of Mt. Adams and Hood from the parking lot and the views only got better the further we went. There were more Garter Snakes on this trail than I have ever seen before, literally dozens of them sunning themselves all over the trail. There were a couple of small patches of snow early on, followed by a couple of larger sections as we neared Silver Star. The worst segment was where Bluff Mtn Trail curves around the base of the peak- the trail disappeared below several feet of snow. There were no tracks to follow since Bluff Mtn doesn't see many visitors, but fortunately a previous hiker had left yellow flagging in the trees to indicate which way to go.
We hung out on the summit for probably 45 minutes or so and spotted the elusive Silver Star Mountain Goat hanging out on the ridge line near the south summit. We walked over to the south summit to get a couple of better shots of the goat, then decided it was time to head back.
The hike back seemed to take forever, we were all pretty exhausted and ready to be done. I didn't apply near enough sunscreen, and I definitely missed some vital spots on my neck and shoulders, resulting in one of the worst sunburns of my life. This was Luca's longest hike to date and he was pretty tuckered out by the end. In the last couple of miles he would run ahead to the puddles he spotted and lay down in them to cool off while he waited for Greg and I to catch up.
On the drive back we continued to follow the forest road east and looped back through Stevenson. The road itself was rather scenic, and we didn't see another car until we hit the pavement. Along the way we stopped at viewpoints, checked out a couple of scenic streams/rivers, and saw a herd of elk. Good times. |
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Wildflowers Observation Substantial
Good amount of wildflowers along the trail. Indian Paintbrush, Lupine, Trillium, Bear Grass, etc... |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
